Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski studied History at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with first-class honours in 1989. Following a year at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, he moved to the University of Oxford to study for his doctorate, which he was awarded in 1994. He then held a postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford, before becoming Lecturer in Modern European History at the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1997. In 2005 he moved to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, where in 2013 he became Professor of Polish-Lithuanian History. He was on leave from UCL in 2014-17, enabling him to hold the European Civilization Chair at Natolin. In 2016 he was awarded the degree of habilitated doctor by the Tadeusz Manteuffel History Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, with which he has long cooperated.

Professor Butterwick-Pawlikowski edited the journal Central Europe in 2008-10. He is a member of the editorial board of several scholarly periodicals, including Slavonic and East European Review, and is currently deputy editor of Poland’s oldest historical journal, Kwartalnik Historyczny. He is a member of the scientific councils of the History Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Polish History and the Polish Biographical Dictionary, as well as a long-standing member of the committee of the British-Lithuanian Society. In 2016 he was awarded the bronze medal Gloria Artis for his services to Polish culture by Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski’s research focuses on the Enlightenment and its critics in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, as well as on the history and culture of one of the most remarkable polities in European history – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795). He is the author of over seventy scholarly publications – monographs, edited volumes, and articles and chapters in refereed journals and collections.

Library of Opole University

The Main Library of Opole University is the largest scholarly library in the Opole Province. The library offers access to books and journals in print version (over one million volumes) and electronic format (approximately 185,000 e-books and 52 databases). The current library system, Aleph, allows users to search for, order and extend books online as well as check their library account. With PRIMO, a multi-search engine, users can find, gain access to and use library collections whatever their format and location. The library’s own digital collections are deposited and made available on servers of the Silesian Digital Library and the Institutionalised Repository of the Opole University Knowledge Base.

Last year, IFLA launched its own temporary mini-library at the 2016 WLIC. The concept was so successful that the Little Library will be made available once again in Wrocław. So, if you have finished your book and are looking for a new read, look for one of the red crates around the Congress centre and take part in our book exchange. All languages are welcome! Help build a literacy-friendly IFLA WLIC! At the end of the Congress, any books still in the Little Libraries will be donated to charitable organisations. If you are not familiar with these little libraries, search for them on google, look at the images and you will be amazed to see what people have created in their streets for these little places offree book-exchange

Wrocław – City of Parks

The IFLA Congress venue – the Centennial Hall is surrounded by the Szczytnicki Park, with an area exceeding one hundred hectares. The first park in this place was established in 1783 by L. Hohenlohe, the commander of the city garrison, in the area of the then-existing village of Szczytniki in the suburbs of Wrocław. The current appearance and richness of Park Szczytnicki owes to Peter Joseph Lenne – a royal gardener who arrived to Wrocław from Berlin. On the occasion of the Exhibition of the Century in 1913, Park Szczytnicki was enriched with objects that have remained interesting till today and are important points of sightseeing routes. In 1913, the wooden church of Jan Nepomucen was moved to Wrocław and established in the eastern part of the park. In 1905, a monument with the bust of Frederic Schiller, a German poet of the Romantic period, was built in the southern part of Park Szczytnicki. A separate part of Park Szczytnicki is the Japanese Garden. It is one of the most popular places for walks. Apart from a few hundred of original plants, trees, bushes and flowers, there are also Japanese buildings: the gate and the tea pavilion. One of the attractions of the Garden is a pond with enormous carps and other species of fish. The Garden often hosts events like tea perking, concerts and open-air happenings.

The Juliusz Słowacki Park is the temple of silence in the centre of the city. The park is a bridge between the city and nature. One can easily hide in the park and take a break from the city noise. People can relax under the trees and monuments. Maples, chestnut trees or lime trees protect from the sun - one can also find shelter inside the buildings of the National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe), Museum of Architecture (Muzeum Architektury) and Panorama of the Battle of Racławice (Panorama Racławicka). On this occasion one can also taste the art - the buildings offer interesting exhibitions and presentations. The visitors of the park sit on the blankets, banks along the alleys, or, during summer, participate in yoga classes. The green terrains of the park are also a good starting point for city sightseeing.

Accommodation in Wrocław

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